Far Beyond apologies: UK’s Blood libel cartoon

Which British politicians, NGOs, media, academics & trade unions have consistently helped strengthen the genocidal image that so many British hold regarding Israel?

By Manfred Gerstenfeld

 

Apologies offered by the British weekly The Sunday Times for an anti-Semitic cartoon published on International Holocaust Remembrance Day address only one, albeit major, aspect of this issue. The paper stated that publishing the drawing “was a mistake and crossed the line.” It admitted that Gerald Scarfe’s caricature had reflected “historical iconography that is persecutory or anti-Semitic.” The drawing showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu building a wall using what appeared to be the blood of Palestinians as cement. Continue Reading »

In a SodaStream boycott push by BDS, Palestinians may be the victims

SodaStream is an example of how boycotting an Israeli company doing business in the West Bank can end up hurting the very goals that boycott proponents say they are trying to achieve: Palestinian rights & Israel-Palestinian peace.

By Ben Sales

MAALE ADUMIM, West Bank (JTA) – For proponents of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, SodaStream would appear to be a straightforward target.

The SodaStream headquarters in Ma'ale AdumimThe Israeli company, which sells a popular kitchen gadget that turns tap water into carbonated drinks, has a large factory in a West Bank settlement. When SodaStream announced that it would run an ad during the Super Bowl, the pro-Palestinian boycott campaign against the company reached a fever pitch. Continue Reading »

Hezbollah status to be discussed at summit meeting by EU leaders

Despite Burgas bombing probe, European & Israeli officials are a bit skeptical that Hezbollah will be blacklisted.

 

Israeli officials expressed satisfaction Thursday that the question of placing Hezbollah on the EU’s terror blacklist was expected to be discussed at a two-day summit of the leaders of the 27 European Union states that began Thursday evening in Brussels.

Bulgaria bus bomb.

Bulgaria bus after terrorist’s bomb. – Photo: REUTERS

Though there was no expectation that any decision would be made at the meeting, one official said the very fact that it would be discussed by the European leaders was a step in the right direction.

Continue Reading »

Syria denies Israel targeted missile convoy on way to Lebanon

In a letter sent to UN Security Council, Syria rejected statements made by U.S. officials, claiming Israel had struck a research center and not a convoy carrying anti-aircraft missiles to Hezbollah.

 

Syria‘s UN ambassador says there is “no truth” to reports that an Israeli airstrike last week, which seriously damaged a scientific research center, had targeted a convoy heading to neighboring Lebanon.

Israeli F-15 jets

Israeli F-15 jet – Photo by AP

International media reported on July 31 that Israel launched an overnight air strike on Syria-Lebanon border.

Syrian state television said the attack targeted a research center near the capital Damascus, and later aired video footage purporting to show the site of the alleged Israeli strike. Continue Reading »

4 Betar Jerusalem fans indicted for racist chants

Team’s fans charged with yelling “death to Arabs” & “burn down their village,” at match after 2 Muslim players joined football club.

 

The Jerusalem District Attorney on Thursday filed two indictments in the magistrate’s court against four Betar Jerusalem fans for making racist statements against Arabs and Muslims, including new players that had joined the team.

Betar Jerusalem fans during match against Maccabi Umm el-Fahm, January 29, 2013.

Betar Jerusalem fans during match against Maccabi Umm el-Fahm, January 29, 2013. – Photo: Nir Elias/Reuters

A statement released by the state said that the first indictment was submitted against three fans: Menashe Eliyahu Mani, Lior Shimon Danino and another fan.

Continue Reading »

Former Egyptian PM: Morsi’s gov’t nearing ‘end of the road’

From Abu Dhabi, his new home in exile, former Egyptian PM Ahmed Shafik slams his homeland’s current regime, implies Muslim Brotherhood is ‘insane’

By Reuters

 

Former Egyptian prime minister and air force pilot Ahmed Shafik, who ended his career amid corruption allegations and fled to the Gulf, is confident that with Egypt in turmoil seven months into its experiment with Islamist rule, its often-reviled political old guard will eventually be seen by Egyptians, and by Washington, in a more kindly light.

Shafik after 2012 election – Photo: EPA

“Egyptians reject the current regime,” said the last prime minister of Hosni Mubarak, the president who was ousted in 2011 after three decades in power. Continue Reading »

PA official: Only Obama can change Israel’s attitude

Former Palestinian security chief and prominent West Bank official, Jibril Rajoub tells Army Radio he believes only Obama can “build a bridge of trust” between Israel & PA.

 

 

Palestinian officials said Thursday they hope U.S. President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to the region signals readiness to re-engage in Mideast peace efforts, but that negotiations can only resume if Washington is ready to get tough with Israel.

Netanyahu, Abbas, Obama

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Barack Obama, and PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
Photo by Bloomberg

 

The Palestinians have long been anxious for the U.S.­to revive serious talks with Israel. Continue Reading »

MK Shaked Promotes Bill: Block Enemies of State From Suing Israel

New MK Ayelet Shaked is already promoting a new bill that will thwart foreign nationals from enemy countries from suing Israel for damages.

By Elad Benari

 

New MK Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi) is already hard at work on a new Knesset bill.

MK ShakedShaked, who was sworn in on Tuesday along with the rest of the members of the 19th Knesset, is promoting a bill that will thwart any possibility that nationals from enemy countries could sue the State of Israel for damages.

The bill comes in the wake of the case filed against the State by Mustafa Dirani, a Hizbullah terrorist who held missing IAF navigator Ron Arad for several years and was believed to have information on what happened to him.

Continue Reading »

After Israel boosts northern defenses; Iran, Syria stop their threats

Israel deployed a 3rd Iron Dome anti-missile battery in case of a retaliatory strike as both Iran & Syria issued threatening statements.

By Israel Today Staff

 

Israel this week further bolstered its anti-missile defenses in the north of the country amid growing concerns that either Hezbollah or Syrian forces will attack the Jewish state.

כיפת ברזל מיירטת רקטה באשדוד, אחרי כניסת הפסקת האש לתוקף (צילום: אבי רוקח)

Iron Dome intercepts rockets shot by Hamas – Photo: Avi Rokach

A third Iron Dome anti-missile battery was deployed to the north on Tuesday.

Just last week, Israel (allegedly) launched an air strike against a convoy transporting advanced missiles and possibly chemical weapons from Syria to Hezbollah. Continue Reading »

Belgian Jewish girls’ school no longer forced to admit sons of Holocaust denier

Rabbi Moshe Friedman, infamous for his participation with the Neturei Karta at the anti-Zionist & Holocaust-denial conference in Teheran in ’06, placed himself in the middle of a disgraceful controversy in Antwerp. Local court rescinds Rabbi’s injunction.

By JTA

 

THE HAGUE — A Belgian court reportedly has lifted an injunction forcing a haredi girls school in Antwerp to enroll two boys.

school

The Benoth Jeruzalem school for Jewish girls

The injunction, which according to the Joods Actuaal monthly was lifted on Feb. 7, was issued by a judge last month following a petition by Moshe Friedman, an anti-Zionist haredi activist excommunicated by the haredi community of Antwerp. Continue Reading »

Amb. Shapiro: Obama’s visit will show strength of ties

US envoy rejects claims that Obama’s visit is aimed at interfering in Israeli coalition negotiations. Discussions will be mainly on Iran, Syria & the Palestinian conflict.

US Ambassador Dan Shapiro said Wednesday that President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to Israel would be a display of the close ties between the two states, and dismissed speculation on Wednesday that the timing of the trip  is somehow aimed at impacting the coalition talks underway in the wake of last month’s Knesset elections.

Netanyahu and Obama shake hands

Netanyahu and Obama shake hands – Photo: REUTERS

“Obviously we don’t play a role and have no intention of interfering in Israeli coalition negotiations,” Shapiro told The Jerusalem Post, responding to claims that the surprise announcement of a presidential visit, likely next month, might be aimed at getting Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni to join the government. Continue Reading »

Pole seeks fate of Auschwitz suitcase owner

A Polish citizen decides to trace surviving relatives from a picture he took of suitcase left by Holocaust victims at Nazi death camp, solving Jewish siblings’ 70-year mystery

By Ynet

 

Harry Grenville and his sister Hannah didn’t know what had happened to their parents during World War II for nearly 70 years. That uncertainty came to an end last month following an initiative of a Polish citizen who visited the Auschwitz concentration camp museum.

According to a report in London’s Times newspaper, the Polish visitor photographed a vast pile of suitcases left by victims murdered in the Holocaust, each of which had a name and serial number painted in white letters on the front. Continue Reading »

A 3-way Obama, Netanyahu & Abbas Meeting Highly Likely

Former Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon is convinced that Barack Obama will be meeting with Binyamin Netanyahu & Mahmoud Abbas – together.

By David Lev

 

Although details of President Barack H. Obama’s visit to Israel remained murky, former Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon is convinced that Obama will be meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas – together. In a post on his Facebook page Thursday, Ayalon said that plans for such a summit meeting were being woven “even as I write this.”

Obama is set to arrive in the region on March 20, and will visit Israel, the PA, and various countries in the region. Continue Reading »

Israel saw 60% rise in number of single new moms in last decade

There were 13,500 single moms in 2011 raising kids under 17 as compared to 8,400 in 2000

5,050 single women living alone gave birth to children in 2011, as compared to 2,600 in 2000

Households with children spend more on junk food, cigarettes.

By Israel Hayom Staff

 

Some five thousand never-married single women became mothers in the last decade, the Central Bureau of Statistics revealed in a survey of the country’s families and households, increasing the number of never-married single women raising children under 17 by themselves by 60 percent between 2000-2011. There were 8,400 never-married single mothers in 2000, and 13,500 in 2011.

Continue Reading »

After being ridiculed, reporter apologizes for suggesting Israel bribed Bulgaria

Daragahi, a correspondent for the Financial Times only apologized after a harsh statement concerning his comment by HonestReporting.

By JTA

 

A correspondent for the Financial Times apologized for suggesting that Israel may have bribed Bulgaria to frame Hezbollah.

tweet

Screenshot

 

“Sincere apologies and regret for ill-conceived tweet yesterday about Israel and Bulgaria,” Borzou Daragahi, the London-based newspaper’s Middle East and North Africa correspondent, wrote Wednesday on Twitter.

The previous day Daragahi had tweeted, “I don’t doubt Hezbollah/Iran could be behind Bulgaria bombing, but also think Israel could pay Sofia to say anything.” He included a URL of a Reuters article quoting Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov as blaming two Hezbollah operatives for the July 18 bus bombing in Burgas in which six people were killed, including five Israeli tourists. Continue Reading »